Blu-ray group adds security features

Page Tools

One of the two groups vying to produce the next generation of
DVDs has rolled out new security features to entice entertainment
and electronics companies to adopt its technology.

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a partnership of electronics
manufacturers and Hollywood studios including Hewlett-Packard and
20th Century Fox, said on Tuesday it planned to fight piracy by
embedding an identification mark on movies, music and video games
that could only be read by equipment carrying its technology.

"It's been a promise since day one: that we're committed to
offering the strongest content management system," said Marty
Gordon, vice-president of Phillips Electronics and a Blu-ray
spokesman.

The new security features are the latest volley in the battle
between Blu-ray and a competing group, HD-DVD, which is backed by
such companies as Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Toshiba
Corp. and Sanyo Electric.

Eventually, the two sides must convince DVD fans.

Under Blu-ray's plan, the public would be asked to purchase new
Blu-ray disc players even while their existing DVD players work.
For that to fly, consumers must be convinced that there are clear
benefits to the new technologies.

In addition to the security measures that HD-DVD and Blu-ray are
devising as they compete for support in Hollywood, both are
promising increased storage capacity and resolution superior enough
to get the most out of high-definition television sets.

Because Blu-ray discs, for example, won't play on traditional
DVD players, that could frustrate consumers who have grown
accustomed to sharing movies with friends or making backup
copies.

Current DVDs are easily hacked, allowing them to be pirated at a
cost to the movie industry of more than $US3 billion ($A3.94
billion) annually, according to Blu-ray.

The Blu-ray technology would prevent unauthorised users from
mass producing discs on stolen disc-making equipment by requiring
authorisation codes. Blu-ray-coded discs will also contain a
feature that would not play on machines that have been tampered
with.

Sceptics have little faith that any security measure can protect
digital content.

The electronics companies which make disc players and the
studios that provide content may end up having to make versions for
both Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats, which could cost billions. That's
why many in Hollywood are hoping for a resolution.

Blu-ray's technology can store more information than HD-DVD, but
it would also require disc manufacturers to build new
factories.

HD-DVD proponents, meanwhile, claim their format would be
cheaper to produce because it relies on technology that more
closely resembles current DVDs.